As a boy I was inspired by my father’s Halina 35mm rangefinder camera. To me it was a piece of fine engineering and I felt privileged whenever dad let me take a picture with it. I was sad, therefore, when doing some research for this that Halina cameras were considered poor quality; no matter, it set me on a path that has lasted a lifetime. Thanks dad.

The youngest of 3 boys, I grew up in Harlow, a post war Britain new town just north of London for families displaced by the London Blitz. Dad was a bricklayer, so moving to a town-sized building site was a clever move. A smart mum move as we later learned.

Childhood was good, we weren’t rich, but we wanted for little. School was ok. I was an average student. I leant more towards creative and making subjects but oddly I also loved maths and English. It took me many years to appreciate what I had.

I had a narrow view of what I might do as a career. A foundation course at art college would, I thought, provide the answers. I liked the discipline of graphic design, looking back I was already tapping into a skill set I was as yet barely aware of. In my work today creativity is not just about making nice things, rather it’s an aid to analysis, intuitiveness, planning, and problem solving.

The fine art element of the foundation year was mostly life drawing, which didn’t excite me. But there were moments where the freedom to experiment gave me a glimpse of another self. The purpose of the fine art department was to nurture candidates for university courses. In the late 70s about 1-in-8 youngsters attended university. The number from working class backgrounds would have been even fewer. Culturally I was programmed to want to work and so it was logical to follow the vocational option of graphic design.

From college I made it into several London design and advertising agencies before starting my own design company in SoHo, London. From humble I enjoyed a great career with clients in America, Sweden, Germany and the UK. I’m thankful to my younger me; he made a sensible decision which served me well.

But what could have been? The advent of digital reignited my love of the camera and in recent times This project is an aid to help me gently explore that other-self I glimpsed all those years ago at art college.